Coin-controlled slot or vending machine and coin-testing mechanism therefor.



A? CQLPY No. 835,851. PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

L. J.DISSER| COIN CONTROLLED SLOT OR VENDING MACHINE AND COIN TESTINGMECHANISM THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED Mums. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Q No. 835,851. PATENTED Nov. 13, 1906. L. J. DISSER.

COIN CONTROLLED SLOT OR VENDING MACHINE AND COIN TESTING MECHANISMTHEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1905. I v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Unrrnn s'rars earn orrron.

. LOUIS J. DISSER, OF CHICAGO, lLLllNOIS. COIN-CONTROLLED SLOT 0RVENDING MACHINE AND EDEN-TESTING MECHANISM THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed August 23,1905.Serial nolzvaasi.

Patented Nov. 13, 1.906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS J. Drssnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Slot or.Vending Machines and Coin-Testing Mechanisms Therefor, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of vending or slot machines fordispensing confec-,

tions, gum, candy, or other material having discharging mechanismadapted to be released or set in o eration by means of a coin andprovided wit means for testing the genuineness of the coin. t relatesparticularly to the means for detecting the genuineness of the coin andfor causing the mechanism to discharge the material vended when the coinis genuine and fail to discharge it when the coin is spurious ordamaged.

In the art to which this invention relates it is well known that testingdevices have been in use which distinguish genuine and spurious coins bythe difference, if any, in their size or weight; but it is verydesirable that means be provided whereby spurious coins equal to genuinecoins in Weight or size, or equal thereto in both weight and size, can

be distinguished from the genuine coins and the discharging mechanismcausedto discharge the article vended only in case genuine coins areused. It is also desirable, however, that means be provided wherebygenuine coins which have been worn until their value is diminished ordestroyed can be de tested and distinguished from coins of full value,and whereby the machine will be caused to operate and dispense thematerials to be vended when a genuine coin of value is used and fail todischarge materials when a coin so worn as to destroy its value is used.

The principal ob oct of the invention is to provide a simple,economical, and eiiicient coin-controlled vending-machine and coiningsand the following description and claims.

The invention consists in the features, combinations, and details ofconstruction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of amachineconstructed.

While the improvements which constitute my present invention maybe emploed to advantage with other devices, it is particu? larly adapted tosupplement the invention described in m United-gtates lfatent No.775,671, of November22, 1904, and when used in combination .with the"device described insaid patentspurious coins or slugs are detected,which it is believedcannot be distinguished with such precision exceptwhen the devices are used in combination.

It is therefore deemed advisable to explain the former device somewhatin detail and the present invention 'incombination therewith, so as toenable those skilled-in the art to fully understand the construction,complete mode of operation, and the advantages or the present inventionin itself, and its mode of operation and advantages when used incombination with my prior invention.

tion and then those of the present invention and the mode of operationthereof.

In constructing a device in accordance with my improvements and in orderto accomplish the foregbing objects,'I provide a cabinet or casingformed of inclosing side walls a and h, front wall 0, and a rear wall11, the latter being in the form of or provided with a door, a bottom e,and a top e. The front Wall' referably is providedwith a coinreceiving sotf, which communicates with an inside inclined slot portion g, whichforms a continuation thereof and conducts the coin I will first describethe elements of my prior inven= to the testing mechanism, hereinafterdeextends through the front wall, so as to deliver the discharged gum atthe opening 7', Where it is accessible to the purchaser.

Clock mechanism (not shown) is mounted: inside the casing or cabinet,preferably upon a subbottom l, which forms between the subbottom and'main bottom a compart ment m for receiving the genuine coins and andefiicient mechanism for discharging the material to be vended when avalid coin is used and for retaining such materials when a spurious ordamaged coin is used I provide a coin-testing pocket 1, open at to andbottom and formed of an outer le ge or side wall 8 and an inner. sidewall it and having suitable wall portions or guards inclosing the edgesof the slot-like space formed between such side walls. the coin-testingpocket. It is mounted at the inner discharge end of the inclinedreceiving-slot portion g. A coin-receiving finger u is movab'ly mountedin such testingocket and connected to a weighted lever '0,- w ich ispivotally mounted in a standard to and provided at one end with aweighty, the weighted end being provided with a tripping-finger 2, whichengages the escapenient of the driving mechanism. This tripping-fingeris mova'ble into engagement with such escapement by means of the weightyand out of engagement by means of the weight of the coin. Thecoin-receiving finger is connected with the light end of the lever 12 bymeans of a rod 2, so as to ermit the coin-receiving finger to move reaily in the testingocket, and a projecting shoulder 3 upon t ecoin-receivlng finger is provided for holding the coin in place upon thefinger, in case the coin is genuine, until such coin is removed anddischarged into the genuine-coin compartment. This shoulder forms amovable bottom for the testing-pocket and is so proportioned withrelation to the size of the testing slot or pocket that it leaves anopening between it and the inner wall of the pocket of sufficientdimensions to permit a spurious coin to pass between such shoulder andsuch inner wall. When the shoulder is at the bottom or outside of thestationary portions or walls of the testing-pocket, it will allow this,whether the spurious coin'be of excessive This pocket may be termedthickness or not, and will allow an excessivelythin coin to pass throughthe testing slot or pocket, whether the testing-finger be lower'ed or.not by the-Wei ht of such. coin. By this arrangement it wi 1 be seenthat a coin laced upon the coin-receiving finger which torms the movablebottom of the testingpocket will overcome the Weight 2,! and raise theescapement-controlling finger 2 out of engagement with the escapement,so that the actuating or clock mechanism will be set in motion, and-alsothat when the coin has been removed from the receiving-finger the weighty will return the escapement-controlling finger 2 into the path of theescapement,

and thus stop and prevent the operation of the actuating mechanism.

A gum-discharging fin er 5 and a coin testing and. lifting finger 6,aving shoulders 7 8, 9, and 10 upon its under side, are integral orconnected together and flexibly mounted u on a main discharging-rod 11,to the end or which such preferably integral gum and coindischarging-fingers are pivotally connected by meansof a pivot 12, and aspring 13 is connected to such rod, so as to press the gum-dischargingfinger and the coin testing and lifting or discharging finger portionyieldingly against the coin when moved forward to the position shown inFig. 3. This discharging-rod is slidably mounted upon a base 14, whichIhave here shown in the form of a bracket having an opening 0 forpermitting s urious and damaged coins to drop from t e testing-slot intothe spurious-coin chute 26. A guide 115 holds theshaft slid: ably uponthe base, and the shaft is operatively connected with the driving-shaftof the actuating-clock mechanism by means of levers 15 and 16 and acrank 17, the lever 15 being pivotally mounted at one end and providedat its 'outersWingin-g end with an elongated slot in which the pin. 19upon the sliding discharge-rod, alrea y described, is inserted. Aforwardly-projecting guide-rod 20 is mounted upon the slidingdischarge-rod 11 and movable therewith, so that its forwardupwardly-bent end 21 is free from the curved portion of thecoin-receiving finger when the weighted end' of the lever 11 is down andthe escapement-c-ontrolling finger 2 in position to prevent theoperation of theclock mechanism. When the coin is dropped upon thecoin-receiving finger, however, its Weight overcomes the Weight g andraises the escapement tripping-finger out of engagement with theescapement, so as to permit the operation of the clock mechanism. Thismoves the sliding discharge-rod 1 l and the guard 20 forward, so thatthe latter extends into the curved portion 22 of the coin-receivingfincharge-rod are returned back to initial position by the completerotation of the crank and consequent movement of the connectingleverarms.

It is well known that coinssuch as pen nies, nickels, and dimeshave araised or projecting annular flange or rim on each side at their outerperiphery, which projects above the side surface of the coin and thatwhen this rim has been destroyed by wear or otherwise the coin is eitherinjured or its value entirely destroyed. in operating my improveddevice, therefore, I take advanof the roughness and flanges of a validcoin and of the comparative smoothness of the sides of a spurious ordamaged coin, so that only the former will permit the discharge of thegum or similar material to be vended. The gum-oontaining compartment isprowith a bottom portion 23, which has an slot of sufhoient dimensionsto receive the free movement of the gumging finger 5. When a coin havinga p or, in other Words, a valid coin, placed on the testing-finger andinside the testingslot, the shoulder 7 of the testing lug or finger enages the projecting rim of the coin and lifts it slightly, pressing itagainst the upper edge e of such ledge or wall, and the shoulder 7 thuscauses the gum-discharging finger 5 to be raised a sufficient distance,so that it engages the lowermost package 24 of gum or similar materialand when moved forward by the clock mechanism discharges such package ofgum into the dischargechute 'L. During this movement the valid coin isbetween the ledge or edge of the wall 3 and the lower edge of thetesting-finger and is being lifted over the wall of the testingpocket,so as to drop into the valid-coin slot 25, leading to the valid-coincompartment, already described. The coin thus serves during its passageover the led e or upper edge of the testing-pocket to ho d thegumdischarging finger up until the discharge of such package iscomplete.

in case the coin is so worn as to not have a sufiiciently projectingrimor rough side to enable the testing-finger to lift or push it over thewall of the testingocket the ressure of the spring upon the s oulderedger will fail to raise it into position between the ledge'and suchfinger and, on the contrary, will press it downward, so that it will.fall through the testing-slot into the spuriouscoin compartment. Therebeing no coin between the ledgeor upper edge of the outer Wall ofthe-testing-slot and the shoulder portion of the coin-discharging fingerthere is nothing to hold the gum-discharging finger up 'sufiiciently toengage the gum, and it therefore passes beneath the gum and fails todischarge the same.

Additional shoulders 8, 9, and are provided on the lower side of thecoin testing and discharging lug or finger, so that in case one slipsover the edge of a spurious or damaged coin the other will be inposition to engage the coin and press it down through the testing-slotinto the spurious-coin chute 26. By this arrangement it will be readilyseen that placing either a spurious or genuine coin upon thecoin-receiving finger will cause the actuating-clock mechanism tooperate and move the gum-discharging finger forward and backward, butthat gum will only be discharged when the coin is genuine orsufficiently rough or flanged, so that the coin will be held or passedbetween the ledge of the a testing-pocket and the coin lifting andtesting finger or lug. it will also be noted that the same movementpasses the valid coin into its proper compartment and applies a test todetermine its validity. I prefer 'to make the testing-pocl et incloscdon all sides so that side uards movable with the n y u e o u ocom-receiving finger may be dispensed with,

' the walls of the pocket in my device serving to prevent the coin fromescaping the finger, except as intended.

While the device constructed in accor ance with the foregoingdescription has many advantages, it is found in practice that inernpensive slugs can be made having burs on one side thereof by means ofwhich the machine can be worked or operated so as to. discharge materialwithout depositing a genu ine coin. When metallic slugs are stamped outin the ordinary manner, a bur is formed on one side thereof and theother side is left smooth. When such a slug is dropped intodischarging-finger 5, it will be readily seen that one of the shoulders7, 8, 9, and 10 is liable to engage the bur and raise the slug orspurious coin over the ledge or upper edge 8 of the testing-pocket inthe same manner in which a genuine coin is operated upon and that thedischargingarm will thus be thrown I into position to discharge 'apackage of gum or other material to be vended. In case the same slug orspurious coin having an annular bur or rim on one side thereof happensto be deposited so that its smooth side is toward the discharging-finger5 and shoulder 7 the slug will not Work or operate the device. Ittherefore becomes very desirable to prevent slugs having annular burs ononeside thereof from entering the tee ting-pocket except-when the smoothsides of such slugs are toward the testing shoulders of the gumdischarging finger 5, and also adapted to entirely prevent slugs havingburs or rims on both sides thereof from entering such pocket: Inotherwords, it is very desirable to-provide a cointesting mechanismadapted to detectspurious coins or slugs having annular burs or rims oneither one or; both sides thereof and adapted to distinguish such slugsfrom genuine coins and enable material to be discharged only when agenuine coin is used. In order to accomplish these purposes, anadditional coin-testing device is interposed between the coin-receivingchute g and the chute portion 9, which leads to the testingpocket abovedescribed. This mechanism consists of an inclined chute portion 27,having a smooth upper surface leading to a similarly-inclined chuteportion or testinggate 28, which is preferably movable, being pivotallymounted upon a pivot 29, and having a smooth-surfaced rear portion 30,vadapted to permit the coin to pass to a tippinggate 31, pivotallymounted upon a pivot 32. The gate 31 retards the coin and discharges itupon an inclined chute portion 33, which leads to inclined chute portion34 for discharging the coin into chute g and testingpocket 1", the chutebeing so disposed that the side of the coin or slug which is down whenpassing over the chute portion or testinggate 28 is toward thedischarging-finger when in the testing-pocket, so that no flange ispresented to the coin engaging or testing finger. The forw ard end 35 ofthe testing-gate or movable chute portion 28 is provided with acoin-testing member 36, which when made of metal or other hard substanceis provided with a roughened or. toothed surface portion 37. I find inpractice that a small fine toothed and preferably thin steel file may beemployed for this purpose with entire success and is adapted to performthe functions and accomplish the purposes required of this element. Iprefer, therefore, to employ a metallic member having a serrated ortoothed upper surface substantially resembling the toothed surface of afile, although a piece of sandpaper, emery-paper, cloth, rubber, orsimilar material, adapted to permit genuine coins to pass thereover andprevent a coin or slug having a bur or flangeon its bottom side frompassing thereover may be used with more or less satisfactory results.These, however, are less durable and less accurate and are more liableto get out of order. p A toothed metallic testing member such as I havedescribed acts with greater'precision and is more easily cleaned andkept in perfect working order. The forward end of this toothed metallicmember may be provided with a smooth surface portion 38, and a slot 39may be formed therein adapted to admit the" upper end of an arm 40 whenthe testinggate is tipped by the weight of the coin to the positionshown in Fig. 5. This arm is thus enabled to dislodge the spurious coinor slug 41 by raising .it from the relatively rough or adhering surface.portion of the testing member 28, so as to permit it to fall into thespurious-coin-chute 42, which conducts' it to chute i and the opening jor other suitable spurious coin or slug containing receptacle.

The upper surfaceof the testing member 36' is of such texture or hasteeth of such fineness as to permit a valid, coin to pass over suchtesting member and yet engage the more irregular and rough edges of bursor flanges upon the bottom sides of slugs.

In order to limit the speed with which the coin or slug passes upon thecoin-testing detent member 36, a retarding-gate 43 may bepivotallymountedupon a pivot 44 and properly balanced, so as to retardthe movement of the coin or slug and permit it to pass upon the testingmember 36 at such a speed that a genuine coin will pass over such detentmember,'and a slug or spurious coin having an annular bur or flange onits under side will be stopped by the detent member and dro ped into thespurious coin or slug receiving 0 ute or chamber 42. I I

In order to enable the coin-testing mem ber 36 to discharge a slug orspurious coin into the spurious-coin chute 42, it is necessarz that thegate or chute portion 28 upon whi such testing member 1s mounted shouldbe so balanced that the weight of a slug when stationary upon thetesting member 36 will tip it to the position shown in Fig. 5. It isfound in practice that when a ate is so delicately balanced as to insuret is it becomes necessary to provide means for returning the gate, withits coin-testing member, to normal position. For this purpose acounterweight 45 is provided pivotally mounted upon the pivot29, whichsupports the gate or chute 28. This counterweight may be in the form ofa wire having a forward portion 46 beneath the forward end of the gateand cointesting member and rear end portions 47 on opposite sides of thechute of sufficient weight to return the gate to normal position. 1These end portions 47 of the counterweight are bent or wound in the formof a spiral, so as to provide the necessary weight without extendingrearwardly to an undesirable length and are thus adapted to be wound orunwound so as to balance the counterweight of the gate with greatnicety, as is required.

A magnet 48 may be mounted upon a branch chute portion 49 in anyordinary and well-known manner for drawing slu s of cer taindescriptions and metallic artic es, such as pins, &c., from the chutesleading to the valid-coin-receiving slot.

I prefer to make the box of one integral piece with the exception of thedoor, which is at the back.

By the above arrangement it will be seen that a valid coin deposited inthe slot f will pass over the testing member 36 without stopping thereonand will pass on to the coin-testing pocket 7, causing a package to bedischarged. A slug having an annular rim or bur on one side thereof whendeposited with the bur uppermost as it passes over the testing member 36may also reach the pocket r,'but the-chutes,with the tipping gate31, are

so constructed that the smooth side of such a slug must necessarily betoward the shoul-.

ders of the gum-dischar g finger 5, so that no material will be discarged by such slug, although it may reach the coin-testing pocket r.Such a slug when deposited through the coin-receiving slot so that itsbur is down when it passes on to the testing member 36 will stop uponsuch member and be discharged thereby intothe spurious-coin orslug-receiving chute 42. t is thus prevented from reaching thecoin-testing pocket 1-, Where its flange would be in position to work orcheat the machine. Slugs having flanges or burs on both sides willlikewise be stopped by the testing member 36 and prevented from reachingthe testing-pocket r b being discharged into the slug-receiving c ute42. It thus becomes impossible to work the machine by means of a slugwithout flanges or by means of a slug With-a flange either on one orboth sides thereof unless such flanges or burs are made with such nicetyas to have true or flat uniform outer edges, such as are on genuinecoins, presenting a smooth. flat surface 'to the testing member, andthis would 'require so much time and labor and expense as to beunprofitable and impracticable.

The testing member above described is adapted to prevent the passa e ofslugs made of lead by reason of their adherence thereto and will alsoprevent the passage of perforated slu s ada ted to operate or work'themachine wit lea to reach the coin-testing pocket.

I claim- I 1. In a coin-controlledapparatus, a normally continuouscoin-passage having a pivoted coin-testing member mounted therein andformin a part of the passage, said member being a a ted to permit theuninterrupted passage a genuine coin, and provi ed wit means forengaging the projecting flange portions of slugs having irregularflanges and thereby diverting them from the coin-p ass age.

2. In a coin-controlled apparatus, a normally continuous coin-chutehaving a pivoted coin-testing member mounted therein and forming a partthereof, said member being adapted to permit the passage of a genuinecoin, and having arough upper surface portion for engaging the irregularsurfaces of slugs and thereby diverting them from the coin-passage. 4 3.In a coin-controlled apparatus, a normally continuous coin-chute havinga pivot ed coin-testingmember mounted therein and forming a partthereof, said coin-testing member being adapted to permit the passage ofa genuine coin, and provided with means for stopping aspurious coin,whereby the pivoted supporting member is tipped to divert the spuriouscoin from the coin-chute, and means for returning the pivoted member toinitial position.

4. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a coin-testing member adapted to stop a spurious cointhereon while permitting the passage of a genuine coin, a pivotedsupporting member upon which such coin-testing member is mounted adaptedto be tipped to discharging position by the weight of a'stationary coinor slug and to per. rnit the passage of a coin or slug not stopped bysuch testing member,.and a counterweight mounted adjacent to suchpivoted supporting member out of engagement therewith when thesupporting member is in normal position and adapted to return thesupporting and coin-testing members to initial position from theirdischarging position.

LOUIS J. DISSER.

Witnesses:

HARRY I. ORoMER, ANNIE C. COURTENAY.

